iPhone/iPad - Progressive Web App Increased Compatibility

mclemore

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UPDATE: I've added a whole FAQ post on how to set this up on your devices:


Full iOS PWA compatibility with push notification support is here!

iOS 16.4, released on April 7, 2023, finally introduced push notifications for iOS devices. If you want to try this functionality out, you will need to install this site as a PWA (by utilizing the Add to Home Screen feature in Safari).

Now as of today, this site now satisfies all of the prerequisites for this to support push notifications which can be enabled by our members once they log in through the PWA and enable push notifications in their Preferences.

Load Safari on your iOS device. Visit the forums. Then at the bottom center of the screen (for an iPhone), click the square box with the up arrow pointing out of it. That is the button you would use to 'share' a page with a friend. Scroll down, and select 'Add to Home Screen'. Click on the icon added to your device, bring up the site, and login as you normally would. Then near the bottom of the screen, it should ask you for permission to allow the site to provide push notifications.

The PWA (progressive web app) has now been enhanced with additional gesture based or UI controls, including pull down to refresh and a floating back button.

IS IT WORKING? If you want to confirm that it is working, on an iPhone go to: Settings -> Notifications -> scroll down and find "KLOV/VAPS Forums". If you don't see it, you may have an issue. If you do, you can click on it to confirm 'Allow Notifications' is on (or in the future, to turn it off if you change your mind.)

For further information on installing a PWA on iOS, Android, or on Windows or Mac (Edge or Chrome), the CDC has a simple explanation page. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/content/hearingloss/installPWA.html
 
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@andrewb - It's not what you think of as a native app. It's a bookmark on your phone that simply loads the website as normal when you select it. Basically what is new is the ability for the phone to get notifications from the web site via the bookmark when you don't have it open..

I just add a new paragraph to the first post in the thread explaining how people can confirm it is working or not, how to turn on notifications (or turn them off), etc.

To my knowledge no data is shared other than what the web site might share normally. You can see the terms and conditions on the main site for more info. For sharing its pretty light -- what comes to mind now is that we use Google Analytics to measure web site traffic.

See:

 
Bummer. It's not showing up in my notifications settings. Tried turning my phone off and deleting and adding it to my Home Screen a few times and still nothing. ☹️
 
@andrewb - It's not what you think of as a native app. It's a bookmark on your phone that simply loads the website as normal when you select it. Basically what is new is the ability for the phone to get notifications from the web site via the bookmark when you don't have it open..

I just add a new paragraph to the first post in the thread explaining how people can confirm it is working or not, how to turn on notifications (or turn them off), etc.

To my knowledge no data is shared other than what the web site might share normally. You can see the terms and conditions on the main site for more info. For sharing its pretty light -- what comes to mind now is that we use Google Analytics to measure web site traffic.

See:



Thanks for the reply. I know every website is pushing people to 'use the app' these days, so they can use it as a vehicle to mine more user data (and shield it from the rest of the web), which is a terrible trend. I'd hate to see KLOV go that route.

I like to think of this as one place on the internet that isn't turning its user base into a machine learning training data farm.
 
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What are the notifications you will get? Just DMs or more??
It worked (I have it in my notifications list now) but haven't seen any actual notifications.
 
Android users have had this ability for some time now and I'm pretty sure I added some info on this somewhere to the FAQ.

For those that use the progressive web app and want push notifications directly to their mobile device it's very very important that you enable push notifications in your notifications preferences.

simply click on preferences then scroll down to push notifications and make sure they are enabled. You can then fine tune which notifications you receive further down below

Screenshot_20230518_141504_Chrome.jpg
 
Thanks for the reply. I know every website is pushing people to 'use the app' these days, so they can use it as a vehicle to mine more user data (and shield it from the rest of the web), which is a terrible trend. I'd hate to see KLOV go that route.

I like to think of this as one place on the internet that isn't turning its user base into a machine learning training data farm.

Yes, every website is pushing people to 'use the app' these days.

It's great for the user experience, and great for the website.

For the largest sites, the dark empires of the world (ie: Facebook), I'm sure the data is a huge part of it. If you are using those apps (ie: Facebook), you already have consented to them owning the pink slip on your soul.

For most of the world (including us), it's not about data. It's hard to think about doing too much with data when our goals are more modest -- fixing broken features on the site, keeping up with maintenance and more, and improving experience with new features.

Plus, this isn't exactly a money making endevour, so resources are limited.

From my perspective it's about user convenience & experience = engagement. Web apps are fast, accessible, mobile friendly, and more. They result in more time on site per user, more refer-a-friend actions, more actions in general.

This will sound like a marketing line: We don't want to own your soul, just to have a place in your heart.

In other news...

I just set up a FAQ to hopefully make experience easier for anyone that might get stuck...

 
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